Microsoft is today announcing some changes to the BioIT Alliance that you will see implemented over the next weeks and months.
First and foremost is the statement that the vision and mission of the BioIT Alliance is unchanged – to drive collaboration, integration, and interoperability amongst organizations in this space in order to shorten the time between discovery of new biological data and the application of that knowledge to human health.
If we think about the problem from a scientist’s point of view: how many different systems do they work with in a single day? How many of those systems (pieces of lab equipment, LIMS, ELN, diagnostics, etc) actually talk to each other?
If we can’t solve that problem in the laboratory, how are we going to push innovations in the lab out to implementation in the hospital, physicians office or into the home?
The vision and mission of the BioIT Alliance is powerful! We’ve already seen some of these collaborations come to fruition, but they need to happen faster and with greater frequency in our drive toward personalized medicine.
In order to implement that vision in an rapid, effective, and efficient fashion, there are a number of changes that Microsoft is implementing to the BioIT Alliance:
In addition, as the first member of the BioIT Alliance Board of Directors, Les Jordan from the Microsoft Life Sciences Industry Unit has been appointed Director of the BioIT Alliance in addition to his role as Technology Strategist for the Life Sciences industry.
The initial Board of Directors will be comprised of seven individuals, who will be representatives from vendors, BioPharma industry, and related industry standards boards, with 5 initial members appointed and 2 members-at-large voted on from amongst the current BioIT Alliance member companies.
The initial Board of Directors are composed this way in order to bring a) industry experience, b) a voice of the Alliance members, and c) experience in the formation of standards and collaborative groups in the Life Sciences space to the BioIT Alliance.
Already agreeing to serve on the board of directors are Becky Kush, CEO of CDISC, and Dave Champagne, VP and General Manager of Thermo Fisher Scientific. Discussions are ongoing with others and we’ll be rounding out the board over the next few weeks.
We will also be requesting nominations for 2 member-at-large positions, who will serve as representatives of the member companies of the BioIT Alliance.
The initial charter of the Board of Directors will be to bring structure to the Alliance in order to facilitate the vision and mission of the BioIT Alliance.
In addition, Microsoft will be hosting a BioIT Alliance Meeting and Conference on October 8 & 9 in Cambridge, MA. This meeting will be focused on presenting existing collaborations and integrations between member companies, new and innovative technologies, as well as allowing member companies to elect the member-at-large positions to the Board of Directors.
Exciting times – and we’re looking forward to exciting results!
In the coming days you should watch the BioIT Alliance website for updates and news, including:
Obviously, these are structural changes. The essence of the organization itself remains the same and we want to build upon the successes of the collaborations we’ve seen to date and want to see more in the future.
For more information send an e-mail to bita@microsoft.com
For media inquiries, please send e-mails to mccabec@ruderfinn.com or tedladd@microsoft.com